


All a Game

by Artificial_Starlight



Series: Giving In [3]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Halloween, M/M, No Heroes, Scary, Sweet Ending, hIGH PITCHED SCREAMING
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 03:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4987879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artificial_Starlight/pseuds/Artificial_Starlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's October, and the North American brothers are used to the creepy and spooky... Or are they? What was once a harmless game kind of got out of hand... Also, who is going to pay for and fix all these damages?!</p>
            </blockquote>





	All a Game

**Author's Note:**

> Part of Giving In universe but can be read alone. Just a little something for the Halloween spirit! My favorite time of the year! :)

There was a chill that spread from his chest out to his limbs, tingling through his fingers and toes, it took hold of his whole body and sent it to visibly shaking. Although the temperature outside was not yet cold enough to give him such a feeling, the eerie stillness of the hallway seemed to. It was too quiet, too dark. Fluorescent lights imbedded into the hanging ceiling were supposed to brighten the hotel walkway, even in the late hours, and yet for some reason, only two bulbs were flickering unsteadily, sending strobe-like shadows along the walls that almost looked to be crawling closer with every blink.

Not a single soul was in the hall, only rows of doors to either side, stark green and haunting against the floral wallpaper and beige carpet. And yet… someone or something had knocked on his door, he swore…

Canada stood at his doorway, Kumajirou in his arms, deliberating. He was in his soft-worn pajamas, socked feet wiggling into the carpet of his hotel room. He was obviously nervous and uncomfortable, perhaps a little freaked out if he was honest. The hotel was nice, but he seemed to be the only guest on this floor, as he was told they had to make arrangements for a glitch in their system. All the other Nation Representatives were rather farther away and Matthew hadn’t minded at first, but throughout the time he had returned to his room, strange… noises had been distracting him. There were whispers, barely audible voices that sounded far away and muffled and yet he swore he heard his name...

For the second time, he had responded to a knock to find that nobody was on the other side of the door. Kumajirou lifted his nose to smell the air but only sneezed for it. “There’s nothing but mold.”

That was worrying in of itself, but Matthew sighed, considering the fact that it had rained most of the day, perhaps it was not surprising. Still, he leaned out of his room a little more to peer down the hallway. He occupied the last room, the hallway dead-ending to his left with only a little window; an air conditioning unit attached barely showing underneath the drapes. “H-hello?” Matthew whispered, his voice naturally small nearly unheard now even in the silence.

He kept hoping Russia would come by, finished with work and available to relax with them for a while - watching netflix or reading next to each other. But Ivan would never play this game, in fact, Matthew wasn’t sure he’d even knock considering they gave each other a copy of the room keys.

A clicking and whirling sounded from the hall’s air conditioning unit and the sudden noise made him jump in fright nearly a foot in the air. It came on with a clatter and softened with a hum and Matthew stared at it wide-eyed like he’d never seen one before. “I’m just hearing things, Kumajot. Or I’ve watched too many scary movies.”

The bear huffed and Matthew backed into his room, shutting the door with finality and sliding the lock into place. As soon as he set the bolt a bang from his door sounded, vibrating the wood with impact and Matthew squeaked in terror, jumping back. The room was tiny, his bed right behind him and he fell onto it with a whump and a whimper. Kumajirou growled at the door viciously.

Canada’s bright wide eyes never left the door as he scrambled up to the bed properly. “I don’t like this Kuma…” He glanced for a split second to his left where the end table was, and his phone on top of it. “W-we should call for help. I-Ivan can come get us.”

“Yes,” Kumajirou said, his fur standing on end. “Or hamburger man, or Englishman.”

Matthew nodded, about to agree when he felt his neck prickle. Goosebumps rose on his skin and he froze as he felt the sheets under him shift. Something pulled at them from behind, and Matthew could hear fabric rustling.

Heart pounding in his chest with the knowledge that _something_ was in the room with them, he slowly twisted, looking behind him with a spike of cold fear down his spine. A lump of his white sheets bobbed up from the bed, nearly three feet away. A sizable creature-like lump that visibly crawled to the headboard slowly, small little steps and a soft noise - louder every second.

_“Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee-”_

Squeezing Kumajirou tighter, Matthew’s eyes watered with tears, too afraid to do anything but stare at the _thing_ in his bed as it got closer to the edge of the sheets.

_“Meeeeeeeeeeeeee.”_

Suddenly, a grey spindly hand reached out from the sheet’s opening, ripping off the covers and stretching towards Matthew with a screech. “ _LIMEY!_ ”

And Matthew _screamed_ , lurching away from the creature - rough grey skin, coal-black eyes, long fingers - he tripped over his own feet, turning with haste and scrambling for the door, he had turned the knob, pulled and pushed frantically before he recalled that he had bolted it and then fumbled with the latch as Kumajirou snarled in his arms wiggling to look over his shoulder and ready to attack. That screeching scream of the creature still sounded and thumps of footsteps told Canada that it was getting closer...

The door opened with a rusty groan and he sprinted right into something that latched onto him - he screamed again and Kumajirou twisted with a snap of feral white teeth to bite at the new enemy. Matthew continued to push among the screeches from the creature behind him and the new frantic sounds from the thing in front of him, he panted, trying to breathe passed the fear and get his feet into gear.

He stumbled away and to the right, down the hall, passed the flickering light to the sleek black elevator. Slamming against the buttons for up and down, he whimpered as the door remained shut and cast his eyes left and right for the stairs. He saw the door to the left, just about to make a run for it when the elevator slid open. The light from the elevator was bright - not broken like the hallway’s fluorescents, and the best thing: the tall, easily recognizable Russian who took up most of the space.

Matthew rushed forward, catching Ivan around the waist before the man could even open his mouth for a greeting. Kumajirou escaped being squished between them by crawling up Matthew’s shoulder, still fluffed up and snarling angrily back down the hallway. Ivan instantly wrapped his arms around Matthew, realizing only that something was not safe and instinctively pulling the Canadian to his side. His right hand had snatched up his pipe from his jacket and his demeanor shifted entirely to the menacing killer he was infamous for. His mauve eyes glittered with malice as he stepped from the elevator, Matthew clutched to him, hiccuping slightly.

A flash of a figure in the shadows and Ivan raised his pipe-

“Wait, wait, wait! Woah! Careful where you aim that thing, big guy!”

Canada took a few shaky inhales, daring to look up at the familiar voice of his brother. “A-Alfred?” Ivan lowered his pipe only slightly, glaring at the American standing in the hallway with his hands up innocently.

“Dude, you got _Russia_? Game over man, it was fun while it lasted,” Another voice joined them from further down the hall, familiar to Matthew as well and he straightened up even more to look for the white mop of hair peculiar of Prussia.

The curtains above the air conditioner beyond the open door of Matthew’s room ruffled and Gilbert revealed himself from behind them and jumped down from the windowsill. He too raised his hands in the air with mock innocence.

“What do you think you are doing,” Ivan growled out.

“Just a little harmless game.”

Alfred scoffed, sending Prussia a small glare, “Uh, I got bit by a bear!”

“Well, mostly harmless.”

Matthew was starting to realize... “You were scaring me!” His voice was still squeaky but the hardening of his once misty, frightened eyes were telling everyone very quickly how frustrated he was at them. “You-”

“Aw, Mattie,” Alfred interrupted. “Happy Halloween! We used to scare each other all the time! Remember that one time, you dressed up in a sheet like a ghost and ran through the house chasing me?”

“That was England,” Matthew protested.

“And then you left blood all over the bathroom and jumped out from behind the bathroom curtain at me.”

“That was Mexico…”

“Also that one year you sent me that movie and said I was gonna die in a few days because I watched it!”

“Japan.”

“And made me believe that if I didn’t leave candy out for the monster under my bed he would _eat me_.”

“... Okay, that was me.” Matthew sighed deeply, finally getting his heart under control, and rubbed his cheek against Ivan’s shoulder. “But seriously, Al, you terrified me. That was so scary…”

Ivan rubbed his back comfortingly, still rigid, holding himself and his pipe threateningly. Alfred and Gilbert only grinned.

“Aw, Birdie, I wasn’t gonna let the monsters get you. The plan was to come in, swoop you off your feet and let you cry on me like a damsel as I claim your-”

“Finish that sentence, Gilbert,” Ivan snarled. “I will gladly smash your mouth free of its teeth and sow it up for you.”

Gilbert wisely shut up. Alfred grumbled, glaring at the Prussian also. “ _I_ was going to be the hero.”

Matthew tightened his hug around Ivan’s middle, a grateful squeeze. “Now then, w-what was in my room?”

Alfred smiled brightly, clearly proud of himself. “I put a walkie talkie in your bag before you left the meeting and whispered into it to make you think there were ghosts talking to you in your room - genius idea right?”

“N-no, I mean… The thing that was in my room. It jumped out at me.”

America looked confused. “What thing?” Matthew looked at Prussia, finding him just as clueless.

“T-there was a creature-thing. It was in my bed! It tried to grab me!”

The two conspirators only glanced at each other in askance, confused and now uneasy. “Um… we didn’t put anything in your room like that, Birdie.”

Matthew whimpered a bit, huddling closer to Ivan once more, close to tears again, “B-but it was there!”

Ivan growled, cursing lowly in Russian, he took two steps forward, pulling Matthew with him and transferring him with tearful protests to America. The two brothers gripped each other in a hug, Alfred looking more afraid now that the joke was out of his hands, a little taller than Matthew (though the Canadian was slumped down in an effort to make himself smaller), he had both arms around his brother’s shoulders, pulling them back to the hallway wall, closer to the elevator. Kumajirou attempted to spring free but Matthew clutched at him in fear, pleading with him to stay safe in his arms.

Prussia pulled out a pistol from the small of his back, one step behind Ivan as the Russian made for the open doorway. They both powered through, straight-back and tense, ready for anything. Only just out of sight from the two North American brothers, they took a few moments of searching throughout the room before Prussia announced that nothing was in his bed or under it. Russia came back out, standing at the doorway with a glare. “There’s nothing.”

Just as he finished that sentence, a muffled thump sounded from the hall, a knock on the door just across from Matthew’s room. All four Nation Representatives paused, hardly daring to breathe. Ivan slowly approached the closed door, pipe at the ready, he reached out for the handle-

Another thump, from a different door, right next to Matthew’s room. This time, Ivan strode over and with a quick kick, busted the solid wood, splitting the trim around the hinges and sending the door careening inwards to find nothing but a clean, _empty_ hotel room.

A knock came from across the hall, and then another from the door adjacent. Matthew squeaked in fear as the knock sounded, this time in a succession of three at the door closest to him and Alfred. America jumped, whimpering and tightening his hold, sliding down the wall to get as far away as possible.

_“Liiiiiiiiiiieeeeeee-”_

It took only a second for Prussia to lift up his weapon, aim, and fire into the door in an answering three shots. “Take that, mother f-”

A strange groaning screech sounded, not from the recently shot door, but from the one across and slowly, they noticed the knob turn, the wood shuddered and achingly slowly, the door began to open, one centimeter at a time, squeaking on rusty hinges with every movement. Ivan came quickly to stand before it, pipe raise, and motioned for Prussia to stand in front, keeping Matthew and Alfred behind.

Matthew squeeze his handful of leather jacket, tucking his chin over a growling Kumajirou, unable to take his eyes off the door, shuddering in fear, and felt his brother do the same. “S-stick with me Mattie,” Alfred mumbled passed his shivers. “We have to stick together. It’ll be okay. Ghosts can’t get the hero.”

He didn’t have the heart to argue, knowing his brother was just as scared; they _both_ watched too many scary movies, believed in Halloween and its spooks too much-

_“Meeeeeeeee.”_

“Show yourself!” Prussia commanded.

Back beside the brothers huddling in a corner, the door that Prussia had shot at was suddenly flung open, swinging on its hinges to hit the wall with a bang, and a white blob jumped out of the room, running towards Alfred and Matthew with a screech.

Prussia and Russia were quick to spin, but the pistol in Gilbert’s hand did nothing but click harmlessly, the trigger stuck. Ivan, too far away to use his pipe as a club, swung his arm in a way that sent the metal flying in the air so hard that the spin of it was audible. Strangely, however, the pipe soared off course, tilting up and striking the ceiling with such force that the end of it drove at least a foot into the wooden studs.

The creature came upon the North American brothers fast and Alfred screamed in high-pitched fear, Matthew joining him as they fell down to the floor clutched at each other and squeezing their eyes shut-

The white covering, a sheet, was thrown off, revealing grey skin and dark eyes. It was small, perhaps only three foot high and skinny, with no hair or mouth to be seen and barely a nose. It wore no clothes, but didn’t seem to have an features to distinguish if it was male, female, or at all even remotely animal. It raised it’s skinny arms up in victory, right in front of them, squealing out a strange language nobody understood but Alfred slowly opened his eyes in familiarity. “T-t-tony?”

“Limey!”

America’s body completely sagged underneath Matthew and he sighed in relief. “Tony! That was you? Oh my _God_ , you scared me.”

It laughed. Matthew didn’t recognize it as a normal sound, but it definitely sounded amused. “Y-you know this… him?”

Alfred sat up, nodding enthusiastically. “Yeah! This is Tony! He’s my friend!”

“Damn… Stupid… Thing!” Prussia growled, fighting with his pistol, pulling back on the slider and releasing the magazine and reloading it. Every time after, he would point at the creature and pull the trigger only for it to click softly.

“It’s jammed, Gilbert,” Alfred pointed out.

“No, it’s not! It’s German! German guns like this - _my_ guns _do not jam_.”

“Da,” Russia agreed darkly. “And I do not miss.”

Alfred shrugged, obviously no longer worried about anything. “I think Tony has superpowers! Strange things happen around him!” The thing - Tony - made a strange noise, clack and clicking like a tongue does at the back of the throat. Alfred hummed, as if he understood. “I think he just wanted to play along with the scaring game! He got me good! Ha ha!”

Matthew whimpered.

Russia strode forward, snatching the end of his pipe and forcefully freeing it, scattering debris everywhere. “I suggest you tell your _friend_ to leave - and give Matvey to me.”

Alfred looked ready to argue but whatever he meant to say was broken off into a yelp when Kumajirou snarled and bit him. He jerked back, releasing Matthew so that the Canadian stumbled up to his feet, away from the creature and closer to Russia. Ivan snatched him around the waist pulling him in once more. “That’s the second time he bit me!”

“Well, I c-can’t believe you Al! You’ve scared me half to death!”

“Hey, you can’t say it wasn’t thrilling. I mean, I thought Tony was a real ghost!”

“If he comes anywhere near Matvey or I again, I will turn him into one, da? Little friends of yours shouldn’t be crawling around where they do not belong, America!” Russia argued.

“Aw, he wasn’t going to hurt anybody.” America seemed to want to prove it and he got up to give the little creature a hug. Tony seemed to purr. “See?”

“I just want to shoot it!” Prussia yelled, still fighting with his pistol.

“You’re not shooting Tony!”

“If he broke my glock, you best believe I’m going to _beat him_ with it!”

Matthew moaned, extremely exhausted. He was still in his pajamas, for crying out loud! It was probably so late it was early now, and he had work tomorrow. “Guys, please. Let’s just go to bed…”

“I’d like to see him _make me miss_ if we fought hand-to-hand,” Ivan called out his challenge.

Ignored in favor of more arguments, Matthew only sighed, looking down at Kumajirou who was still fluffy with agitation. The polar bear only watched the back and forth with slight annoyance on his features, and he seemed content to snuggle into Ivan’s coat where Matthew was huddled into. It reminded the Canadian of how warm it was here in Ivan’s hold.

While he had been so scared, there was nothing like being protected by Russia. The way the man had instantly sheltered him, protected and fought against the enemy that had terrified Matthew. It made him feel very special to have this man consider him with such importance. While he was held close, surrounded by this strength - Matthew felt safe. Perhaps there was a part of him that felt outrageous and silly for reacting to the shenanigans that went on tonight, but he'd always been spooked by horror movies and such, no matter if he was a Nation of reputable strength himself. Sometimes, like at this moment, he just really loved the fact that Ivan could sweep him up and defend him like some kind of knight in shining armor... and he bet that nobody would have considered Ivan as such before, either.

He almost laughed, because while America and Prussia both started this game to be the hero to Matthew's damsel, Ivan had truly came forth to fulfill that role himself - without even thinking about it most likely. Ivan was never the type to do something good because it was inherently a good deed or decision. Ivan only did things he  _wanted_ to do, and that, more than anything made Matthew flush with warmth.

Wanting to embrace that feeling fully, especially after the wild adrenalin-filled night, he pushed away the shy and quiet part of him that would have bade him to sit and listen to the three argue all night and caught Ivan’s jaw in his palm. Pulling the Russian down, he rose on his toes to meet their lips in a sweet kiss, capturing those lips and cutting the man off mid-sentence, tracing with his tongue to tease the man into reciprocating, though it was not hard to do so.

“It’s late,” He mumbled between kisses, finally assured that he had Ivan’s sole attention. “And my hero deserves a kiss. Come to bed with me so I won’t be alone. Scare the monsters away from my closet and under my bed. Kiss away my fear.”

Ivan hummed in agreement. “With Kumajirou and I you will not be afraid, da? Although,” He leaned in, unwilling to separate from Matthew now that he'd given him such affections, seemingly hungry and insatiable for Matthew’s kisses which he gave freely. “You and America seem to jump at everything no matter what.”

Matthew scoffed, pulling back with an indignant huff to prod at Ivan’s middle. “Excuse you.” He grumped, but his smile was enough to show his jesting. He continued to push Ivan back towards his room, leaving the others behind to continue yelling at each other, not noticing their departure.

“It is not my fault you give them so many reasons to tease you, Matvey. They will keep playing this scaring game, da? It is too easy for them.”

“Well then,” Matthew huffed, making sure all unwanted visitors were distracted down the hall, including Tony, and then he shut and bolted the door (though he knew it apparently wouldn’t keep little alien creatures out). “You best never leave my side.”

Ivan smiled, a full charming grin that melted Matthew’s heart a bit. “I would love to take that challenge, da.” 


End file.
